No Regrets
by Kusabi
Summary: It's all over... and Kairi has some thoughts about who she likes. Kairiku pairing. Takes place after KHII... & there are SPOILERS! Just to warn you. & there's a chapter 2 now! Woohoo!
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: SO! I've never written Kingdom Hearts fanfiction before, so I felt like it would be a great idea. I know that the pairing I used is a little... not used much? Haha. But it just felt right to write. Yeah.  
I got the title from a song by Distance to Empty.  
Kingdom Hearts is copyright Disney & Squre-Enix. I own none of it!_

**No Regrets**  
By Kusabi

Sighing, Kairi stared out her window. As she gazed at the bright, gorgeous stars, all of her emotions burned along with them. Unfortunately, tonight, she was unable to get a certain dilemma off of her mind.  
Sora was in love with her. Everyone knew it. But no matter how much she tried, she found herself unable to return his love. However, the only reason she tried was because she felt obligated to. Traveling through many worlds, facing many hardships, and doing it to find her. He had been looking for Riku, too, but Kairi was number one.  
_Riku…_  
Whenever her mind drifted, she always found her thoughts turning to Riku. Many times, she would try to shove him out, but his image kept floating throughout her mind. Convinced that she couldn't tell anyone about her feelings, keeping them bottled up seemed like her lone option. Yet, every single day, her feelings grew. Her "one option" was working against her.  
_Maybe a walk will clear my head._  
Hopping off of her bed, she grabbed her shoes, and a pair of socks, and slipped them on. She was still wearing her day clothes, which consisted of a white tank top, with a pink, front-zippered jumper dress over it. Spotting a hair tie on her desk, she decided to pull her shoulder-length red hair up into a ponytail.  
As she quietly stepped out of the house, a cool breeze greeted her. To her, it was a nice change from the scorching summer days of the islands. She immediately set off towards the dock, deciding that it would be best to go over to the island that her and the others loved so much. Someone might worry if they spotted her out so late at night.  
Since she sprinted, it took her a quick two minutes to reach the dock. Swiftly grabbing her boat, she began paddling over to the large island. The breeze provided gentle waves on the waters, but gave no obstacles. It was nothing short of perfect for Kairi.  
Upon reaching the island, she headed towards the small, attached island, where the bent palm tree resided. It was one of her favorite spots; a place where her and her two best friends had many chats.  
Jumping up, she sat herself down on the tree, facing the water. Once again, she turned her attention toward the stars. Letting her mind empty out, she thought only of the beauty of the burning gems. Gently burning, winking, smiling…  
"Kairi?"  
She jumped slightly at the voice that came from behind her. As she turned around, she found herself staring into the light blue eyes of the one she adored.  
"R-riku?" she said, slightly shocked. "What are you doing here?"  
Riku emitted a small laugh. "I should be asking you that. It's past midnight!"  
Turning her body around to face him, Kairi chuckled. "I guess you **do** have a bit of a point."  
"But, really." Riku's expression turned serious. "Is there something wrong? This is unlike you."  
_I can't say it_, she thought. "I just… I feel a little confused at the moment." _No!_ _I didn't want to say even that…_  
Joining her on the tree, Riku sighed lightly. "Confused? About what?"  
"I can't say…"  
"Kairi," he said, sternly, looking down at her. "You can tell me anything. Anything at all."  
Turning her head, she stared into his eyes. She felt reassured, but still nervous.  
"I'm not in love with Sora. I'm terrified about what'll happen when I have to tell him, when the time comes."  
_There it went._  
A million emotions, the likes of which he hadn't felt in quite awhile, ran through Riku. His feelings for her, which he had forced to lie dormant in his mind, now burst out of their dam. But he refused to let them overcome him, as he didn't yet know whom she was talking about.  
"Just…" he began, but trailed off. Honestly, he had no idea what to say to her. It was as if the words had been deleted from his brain.  
"Just?"  
_Think, Riku, think!_ "Just don't worry about it," he said in a hurry. "What you should think about… is telling the one you do love."  
Turning slightly red, Kairi replied, "well, there's a problem there. I have no idea how to tell them."  
Laughing, Riku came up with a fast reply. "Just throw your arms around him, and see what he does!" _What kind of reply was that!_  
Returning the laugh, she smiled. "Thanks, Riku. I'll remember that one."  
A silence developed between the two. Kairi's mind screamed at her to just tell him, while Riku's mind screamed at him to not say anything else on the matter.  
"So then, Kai–"  
He cut himself off when, to his shock, Kairi threw her arms around him. She then looked straight at him.  
"Riku… you're the one I'm in love with."  
Saying nothing, he leaned in, and kissed her. He could think of no other way to express his long-standing affection. Happily, Kairi began kissing him back.  
Once their lips parted, they smiled at each other, and tightly embraced one another.  
"I'm glad…" she spoke softly. "Only one more worry now…"  
Riku nodded. "Best not keep secrets from friends."  
"It's going to be difficult. I hope he'll understand."  
"Let's not worry about it right now," he said, in a comforting tone. "Let's just go home for now."


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: Yay, chapter 2... shock! Surprise! I hope I can figure out a direction for this story, because I certainly don't have an idea at the moment... so it might take awhile to update. Sorry  
I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or any of the characters in the story! They all belong to Square-Enix & Disney._

**No Regrets  
Chapter 2**  
By Kusabi

The next day, a Sunday, Sora wasn't around, much to Kairi's relief. He had gone on a trip to see King Mickey. She hadn't really been paying attention to him when he was talking about it the previous day – she had been too entranced with watching Riku square off against Tidus. He had emerged victorious, of course.  
Unfortunately for her, Riku had gone on this trip as well. Per Kairi's request, Riku had promised not to tell Sora about their relationship. Her mind had been made up – he _had _to hear it from her. There was no way he'd believe Riku.  
However, once Monday morning rolled around, Kairi began to feel ill. Her original plan had been to tell Sora about her and Riku _after_ school, but she didn't feel well enough to go.  
_Wow, this is just my luck. I **need** to tell him… this is ridiculous! I'm going back to bed…_

"Kairi?"  
She awoke with a start. Being woken up by being called upon bothered her, as she had always been a bit jumpy. She wasn't very surprised to find Sora standing over her.  
"Hey," she said, lightly. "What's going on?"  
"Well," he began, "since you weren't at school today, I wanted to check up on you." A small, embarrassed smile formed on his lips.  
Lying back down, Kairi sighed. "I'm okay. Just not feeling very well. Slept pretty much all day."  
"That's good," he replied with a sheepish grin. Kairi wanted to roll her eyes, but restrained herself.  
_I know about your feelings, so stop playing innocent!_  
"Say…" He paused to think. He had been waiting for an opportunity to tell her for quite some time, and he wondered if now would be good. _As good a time as any, I guess._  
Kairi, on the other hand, wasn't as pleased with Sora's timing. She figured that he thought it would make her feel better, though it had the opposite effect. Her stomach churned, and she began to feel slightly nauseous.  
_Maybe I should've had Riku break the news._  
"I've been wanting to say this for awhile now," he said, a little slowly, as though making sure that every single word he spoke sounded fine. "I don't know how you feel, but…  
"Kairi, I'm in love with you."  
_Oh, crap_, she thought. _He said it… it's out in the open now… I don't know if I have the will to break it to him…_  
"I'm sorry, Sora." Those were the only words she could bring herself to say.  
A look of mixed emotions spread across Sora's face. There was sadness, jealously, confusion, and just a hint of anger. He _had_ saved her life, after all, shouldn't he get something for that?  
_Friendship…_  
In exchange for saving her, he had received her continued friendship. He had done it out of love, a love more powerful than _just _friendship. But she saw him as a kind of brother, and nothing more.  
Choking up, he fought to say something, but found himself unable to. He simply started at her, not knowing what to think anymore. After he felt warm tears begin to run down his face, he bolted from her house.  
But it wasn't quite over yet.  
_I didn't tell him about Riku…_  
As much as she wanted to fall back asleep, she knew she couldn't. Once again, she had too much on her mind.

Riku came to see her that night. Though he had wanted to come earlier, homework had kept him busy at the time.  
"It's probably better that you didn't," she said, tiredly. "_He _came by."  
Eyes widening, Riku sat down in a chair next to Kairi's bed. "Were you able to tell him?"  
She sighed. "He admitted his feelings for me. The only thing I could say was 'I'm sorry'…"  
"So, he doesn't know about me?"  
"No," she said, quietly.  
He smiled kindly at her. "Don't worry about it. I can take care of it."  
Kairi nodded. Her eyes were tinted with sadness, as she still felt bad about crushing Sora's heart.  
"He…" she spoke, "he didn't take it so well."  
"Listen to me," Riku said, staring into her eyes. "Everything is going to be fine. Sora has a strong heart… he _will_ heal."  
"Riku…" Love. She absolutely loved the way he could make her feel better about _any_ situation. Even when he looked like "Ansem", she had known it was Riku, by the fact that his presence had upped her spirits. Though she was happy that he had his original body back, she knew that no matter what he looked like, Riku was who he was, and no matter what, she would love him.  
"Thank you so much. Thank you for giving me this strength."  
"It's never a problem, Kairi." He tilted forward, planting a swift kiss on her lips. "You know that if you have no strength, I'll give you as much of mine as you need."

Upon returning home, Riku spotted Sora outside of his house.  
_Of course,_ he thought. _He's come to talk to me about her._  
"Sora!"  
At Riku's call, Sora turned to face him. His eyes were slightly swollen from crying, and his expression was empty. Someone who didn't know him might've thought he had been suffering depression for years.  
"Hi, Riku." His tone was low, and very stiff. "I wanted to ask you something." The only thing he wanted to do was get straight to the point.  
"Yeah?"  
"Do you… do you know who Kairi is in love with?" Despair was heavy in his voice, a kind of tone that Sora rarely ever spoke with. To Riku, this whole scene was one of the saddest things he'd seen since returning to the islands.  
"About that…"  
A small light appeared in Sora's eyes. "So you do know! Please, Riku, you've got to tell me!"  
Sora's desperation upset Riku. Yes, he loved Kairi, but their love was tearing their _best friend_ apart. He knew what he had to do, though, or else the situation could get even worse.  
"It's… it's me," he said, in a slightly reserved manner.  
Sora simply shook his head, in denial.  
"I don't believe you. This isn't funny." As he glared at Riku, a fire burned out of control inside of him. _There's no way he's serious.  
Best friends don't do that kind of thing. Right?_  
"Now, Riku. Tell me, who is it? Be honest this time."  
"Don't be ridiculous!" Riku shot back at him. "I have no reason to lie to you. Kairi and I… we both feel the same about each other."  
"Shut up!" Angrily, Sora clamped his hands over his ears. He refused to hear any more of it. Only one thought ran through his mind… "Betrayal". Deep down, he knew it wasn't something he could've changed. However, the hurt inside of him was so prominent, it was all he could think of.  
With his emotions running out of control, he darted towards Riku, landing a powerful blow on his left cheek. Afterwards, he simply ran off.  
Riku stood there in disbelief. Coming into this, he had no idea what to expect, except for Sora's heartbreak. He certainly hadn't expected Sora to _hit _him. He couldn't help but feel worry for his friend. It was obvious that it would be hard on him, but would Sora be okay?  
Brushing the thought out of his mind, he decided to turn in for the night. He'd save the worry for another day.


End file.
